The present invention relates in general to a self-locking mist eliminator such as is useful in cooling towers.
Mist eliminators or drift eliminators are a highly efficient means for collecting droplet mists in a gas stream. One such eliminator blade assembly is described in my copending application Ser. No. 962,982, filed Nov. 22, 1978. Besides a specific blade configuration illustrated therein, that application describes a simple mechanical interlocking means for connecting the blades and side plates which allows mist eliminators to be assembled into panels with dimensional accuracy and consistency during and after assembly. The construction described and illustrated in that application includes the provision of a pair of longitudinally extending notches into each end of each blade which mate with corresponding notches in a pair of flanged supporting side panels and with a notched out portion in an airfoil section at each end of the blade for engaging a projecting rib on one of the side panel flanges. While this configuration provides a reasonably good interconnection between the blades and the end panels, the assembly does require a fair degree of time in properly orienting and interconnecting the blades and end plates and provides against longitudinal separation of the blade from the end plate only at the outlet portion of blade.
Other blade and end plate connection structures are illustrated in the prior art. Typically blades or vanes are supported in notches positioned in support members which may also cooperate with a notch in the blade or vane such as, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,583,171 to N. P. Green, et al., 2,892,509 to D. R. Baker, et al. and 2,911,011 to W. M. Neihart. U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,832 to D. B. Furlong, et al. discloses the use of pins which extend through openings in the end plates to grasp the ends of the blades thereby to connect the blades to the end members. U.S Pat. No. 3,276,193 to Lamb discloses a subassembly connection composed of two channel members for clamping an array of blades via a fringe member extending along each longitudinal edge of each blade. U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,669 to S. E. Thompson, et al. discloses an assembly wherein deformable resilient drift eliminator blades are provided with notches on one side thereof adjacent the inlet and outlet edges and which engage portions of end plates that are provided with slots which have an appearance similar but distorted from the cross-sectional appearance of the end of the blade so that the blade can be distorted for insertion into the slot of the end plate and moved until the slots in the blades engage the end plate and fix the blade against longitudinal movement. This construction takes a fair amount of manipulation of the blades in establishing an assembly. Where a particular cooling tower configuration can include thousands and thousands of blades, considerable time and expense can be involved in the assembly of the blades and end plates.